Shane Warne’s The Royal Champion
8 teams, 58 matches, 44 days and 1 champion!
The ‘underdogs’ finally managed to beat all and get the IPL T-20 first ever championship. Yes, the Warne’s Rajasthan Royals have won the IPL Championship after beating the Chennai Super Kings in the finals held at Dr. D. Y. Patil Stadium in Nerul, Navi Mumbai. Inspite of being under terror, the spectators enjoyed the most thrilling match ever with the result extended till the last ball of the tournament.
There will be nothing exciting than this. Super Kings set a target of 164. The Rajasthan Royals were finding it difficult to get runs. After 42/3, Yusuf Pathan and Shane Watson tried to save the team. But again the their wickets tumbled to 143 for 7. After Pathan was out at 56 runs, Royals needed 21 runs off 15 balls. This equation came down to 8 runs needed in the last over with just 3 wickets in hand. Kings skipper, Dhoni had no other choice, so he gave the final over to Balaji which was expensive in the match. 7 runs were conceded of the first 5 deliveries..with 1 run being from a wide-ball. One delivery was left and just 1 run was needed for the victory. Both the teams had equal score. Silence prevailed in the entire stadium. Balaji tried to maintain his cool while Sohail Tanvir on the opposite end geared up. The final delivery was made…and boom!! Tanvir seized the most important winning run and the Warne’s team walked away with the championship trophy.
Yousuf Pathan was the show stealer by taking 3 wickets for 22 runs and smashing 56 runs off 39 balls. No wonder he was awarded the Man of the Match. It was also the brilliant captaincy by Shane Warne who led the ‘underdog’ team upto the finals and managed to get the ‘royal’ championship.
